DIY Deer Head Silhouette Wall Art Decor {How to repurpose an old canvas}

Our property is nestled in the middle of woods, so the trendy deer decor is just naturally fitting around these parts. As I prefer to leave the ‘real’ deer heads on the actual animals that frolic in our fields, I thought it would still be fun to add some antlers to our decor; just a little better suited for our living room.

I always like to add a touch of whimsy to each room and found a deer head silhouette to perfectly fit the bill; a little bit rustic, a little bit modern and the perfect manly balance to the floral fabric I have added to the space.

I repurposed a canvas for this project so if deer decor is not really your thing – the same basic concept can be applied to create your own customized piece of inexpensive wall art.

I picked up a couple of 18 X 24 painted canvases while visiting my sister last fall, at The Christmas Tree Shop. They were on final clearance marked down to just $1 a piece and with a few strange looks from those around me, I bought every one they had. The frames were actually made really well but the ‘canvas’ itself was poorly stapled to the sides as shown above – a real eye sore.

The surface of the canvas also had a texture to it so simply painting over it would notreally work. I decided to recover the entire canvas with a piece of inexpensive muslin fabric to give me a nice clean slate to start fresh.

After ironing the fabric, I stretched it over the canvas and stapled it into place on the back of the frame. The excess fabric was then trimmed away.

Using a foam roller I applied a base coat of latex paint. It took two coats but covered any of the original design that was peeking through the fabric.

The deer head silhouette was found online and printed directly onto a transparency. Using my overhead projector I traced the outline of the silhouette directly onto the canvas with a pencil. {just like I did for the Christmas Tree Wall Artover the holidays for my little guys playroom}

The projector was a $10 thrift store find last year and is my little secret drawling weapon. My husband chuckles because he can actually draw but if you’re like me you should definitely add one of these to your thrift store list – they are wonderful to have around!

Once I had my pencil guidelines I outlined the silhouette with an angled artists brush. I used more latex paint and it did take two coats to fully cover the base coat.

The rest of the canvas and the sides were then filled in with a foam roller.

A nice sized piece of customized wall art costing just a few dollars – deer head or not.

How nice of you to add a manly touch to the room, thinking of your hubby. I do the same with mine, and find it hard sometimes to find the right medias or ideas. I tend to stick to monotone colors instead of prints to do that. I feel like our house is too plain sometimes. The idea is great and I am so jealous of your thrift store find on that projector.

Very cool! Just in case you don’t know, deer shed their horns every year, so if it’s just horns you want to tuck in here and there, you could probably do some scouting around your place and find some. You have such clever ideas!

I love this…I recently purchased a faux deer head (in white) and I have it hanging in our foyer. I surrounded it with a victorian oval frame, also painted white. Just for fun I gave him a garland of crumpled dictionary pages and put a dictionary page ball on one of his antlers. Talk about your whimsy…you either love it or hate it.http://www.flickr.com/photos/24113698@N08/5430752703/P.S. I am having a giveaway on my blog…I would love for you to visit!http://meli-melo-art.blogspot.com

My husband is going to love this! Just wanted to tell you I gave you the stylish blogger award…if you want to participate, copy/paste the award into your blog and have some fun. No biggie if not though, it’s all for fun!

Great idea Stephanie! My husband is really into hunting but I’m not into having real animal heads on my walls just yet. I found the same image a while back and will most likely be creating something similar to this to put in “the man cave” in our house! Hopefully that will satisfy us both!

LOVE this! I have a nice sized canvas from my son’s nusery that said “PEACE LOVE BABY” unfortunately he will be turning two this month and is no longer a baby so this is a great way fo me to transform this canvas….Thanks so much for sharing!

I love the simplicity of the white deer head against the taupe background but am even more impressed that you repurposed an existing canvas. Very smart! I’m going to have to start looking for big canvases that I can transform. Excellent tips! Thanks so much.

I really like the silhouette. It is simple but elegant, and most important somewhat manly, which I really need every once in awhile. Everyone seems to be into ceramic animals but I really think that you are onto something here.

What a unique idea, instead of a projector, use a light against the wall, then draw around your object for the silhouette. I bought a ceramic deer head at the flea market and it’s hanging over my fireplace mantel on my rock fireplace in the cabin. Love your project! Mel’s Cabin

I’ve always loved all your projects, really enjoyed this one. Such a great way to recycle a canvas. So beautifully done.I’m so glad to be back to subscribing to your blog. I had so many problems with our other internet provider so finally gave them the heave ho. Trying to find all the blogs I was subscribed to on it. Hope all well with you and yours. Happy Thanksgiving.

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